TWO IN ONE: (From top) Ashok Nath, business manager-cum-marathon runner; eye surgeon Sudipto Pakrasi (with mike); paediatrician Sangeetha Swaminathan plays fusion Carnatic music

You know you’ve gone that extra mile when all that you want is a shower and a good night’s sleep. But Dilip Donde — after circling the world on a sailing boat — wanted just that. The officer of the Indian Navy used to be a weekend sailor who went out to sea to relax. Last August, he sailed from Mumbai and returned nine months later after the journey of a lifetime.

The first Indian to sail solo across the world crossed the Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, the Pacific and the Atlantic. He encountered 40-foot high waves and winds lashing at 100km per hour. Sometimes the sea was so silent that he felt time stand still. “I saw the raw power of nature. I went through a spectrum of emotions,” says Donde.

It all started when he heard that the Navy wanted to sponsor a solo circumnavigation of the world on a sailing boat. Donde volunteered. “Before this, I did not know that people had sailed alone across the world,” recalls the officer. Looking back, Donde says he undertook the trip to cross the limits of daily routine. “Professionals in India want to explore new horizons and live multi-dimensional lives,” he says.

Clearly, there is life beyond e-mails, grocery shopping, children’s homework and tax returns. More and more urban Indian professionals are chasing dreams — and capturing them. “Unlike the earlier generation, today’s professionals choose to live lateral lives. They want to be more than just a father, husband and hot-shot career climber and are exploring new facets of their personality,” says G.K. Karanth, professor of sociology, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore.

Take Sudipto Pakrasi. He practised singing whenever he could squeeze out some free time. The Delhi-based ophthalmologist belted out Steppenwolf’s Born to be Wild between complicated cataract surgeries, while driving and during his post-dinner walks.

Pakrasi used to be an enthusiastic rock singer before he got sucked into medicine. Two years ago, at 50, he rediscovered his old love for music. “We formed a group, ReRock, for old-time rock band members who had sacrificed music for other careers and decided to host a show. An enthusiastic member posted an invite on Facebook,” recalls Pakrasi, who assumed that a handful of old-timers would attend the show.

He was mistaken. ReRock’s first concert in January 2009 was attended by almost 1,000 people. The second concert, held this year, was even bigger. “More musicians, who are well entrenched in careers such as advertising and chartered accountancy, stepped in,” says Pakrasi. Anirban Roy flew in from Hollywood, where he works as an editor. Abhinav Dhar, known as Delhi’s best drummer, besides being the founder of ad agency Dhar & Hoon, took a break from advertising to play for his old rock band, Applied For.

Suparna Mitra, global marketing head, Titan Watches, was expecting just a few hundred entries when Titan announced a contest — Be More Legend — for people pursuing a passion along with their profession last November. “We received over 1,000,” she says.

Mitra was amazed at the variety of interests that professional Indians were pursuing. A managing director of a Bangalore-based IT firm was a professional disc jockey by night. A corporate lawyer from Mumbai trekked in the Antarctica. A Delhi neurosurgeon was a miniature painter. The contest was won by Hina Shah, an Ahmedabad-based NGO head who is an Odissi dancer, painter and a state-level tennis player.

The interests vary from the arts to the environment. Sangeetha Swaminathan is a paediatrician who plays the violin, and Devan Verma works with tribals. Six years ago, while trekking in the jungles of the Western Ghats, Verma, head, business development and projects, Aditya Birla Retail, realised that forest dwellers were losing their living spaces due to conservation. “Conservation measures imposed tight regulations on them,” explains Verma.

The retail head decided to double as a tribal rehabilitator. He began work in Kerala’s Parambikulam Tiger Reserve, where he trained forest dwellers to become trekking guides. “A professional chef volunteered to teach them basic cooking. A retired forest officer taught them the English names of forest plants. We also gave them lessons in hygiene and communication skills,” recalls Verma, who was among those shortlisted for Titan’s Be More Legend award.

A secure economy allows people to create a life outside work, believes Mitra. “Income levels were low till a few decades ago, so people were security seekers. A good job, marriage, house and a pension were the ultimate goals,” she explains. “But now, with booming incomes, people can afford to live enriched lives,” she adds.

Like Titan, many companies are encouraging people to live their dreams. Insurance firm ICICI Prudential launched the initiative Living Your Passion last year. “We run forums on Facebook and Twitter where people share knowledge and encourage each other to follow their passion,” says Sujit Ganguli, senior vice-president and head – marketing, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance. The Facebook forum has 26,500 members, he says.

A few years ago, Reebok India ran an advertising campaign called Two People in Everyone. The ads — which showed Rahul Dravid engrossed in a book and M.S. Dhoni on a motorbike — were aimed at encouraging people to be more than mere bread earners, says a company spokesperson.

“Companies are encouraging employees to have a life outside work,” says Arvind Krishnan, chief executive officer, The Fuller Life, a Bangalore-based event management firm that plans leisure activities for corporate employees. “We organise sports, performing arts and literary activities for 40 firms in the city,” claims Krishnan.

Krishnan himself works and runs hard. He started a club for Bangalore’s long-distance runners, called Runners for Life, a decade ago. Today, the club has 7,000 members — all working professionals. “About half our members are serious marathon runners,” says Krishnan.

Bhaskar Sharma is a runner too. When this millennium began, Sharma set two goals for himself. One, he would reach a director-level post in an IT company. Two, he would run a full marathon before he touched 45. He achieved both. “I have run 26 marathons,” says the director, India operations and country manager, Mformation Software Technologies, Bangalore, adding that running helps him handle stress.

In the West, it is common for professionals to have a life outside work, says Sharma. “As Indians become globally travelled, they are exposed to a concept of living a wholesome life,” he adds.

Also, in the old economy in India, people usually reached top-rung positions after they crossed 40 or 50. “But now, most firms have high-level executives in their 30s. They have the energy to live life outside work. And they don’t hold it against others who want to do the same,” says Ashok Nath, chief operating officer, Vertebrand Management Consulting Pvt. Ltd, Bangalore and the best marathon runner in the 45-plus group in India.

As stress levels rise at work, a hobby helps maintain a balance, believes ophthalmologist Navin Sakhuja, who is a landscape and architecture photographer. He started off as a typical camera-toting Indian — who took pictures of his family saying “cheese” in their best clothes. “I started enjoying myself behind the lens,” he says.

Now, Sakhuja’s camera is his constant companion. He has taken pictures of the butterflies in his garden, the landscapes of Alaska and Buddhist monasteries in Cambodia — and held three photo exhibitions in Delhi. “My life was completely career-driven, till I discovered photography. Now I have struck equilibrium,” he says.

For some people, the second innings has just begun. And the first is still carrying on.